A work by Jayashree Chakravarty

A workshop, a seminar and now a fundraiser featuring some of the biggest names in the city?s art fraternity ? Khoj Kolkata, a branch of Khoj International Artists Association, certainly means business.

The exhibition, titled 20 Drawings, which concluded at Akar Prakar on Saturday, was not just a success in terms of funds, it also showcased an unusual collection of recent works. The money will be utilised for an international artist?s workshop in November. Senior artists like Paritosh Sen, Sanat Kar, Lalu Prasad Shaw and Jogen Chowdhury, along with Jayashree Chakravarty, Chandra Bhattacharya, Chhatrapati Dutta, Aditya Basak and others, contributed to the show.

The younger lot, who form the core group of the Calcutta chapter, approached fellow artists to contribute drawings and paintings that could be easily reproduced as prints. The result was an amazingly homogeneous collection of linear monochromatic drawings, occasionally touched by colour. All the works, donated to Khoj, were snapped up in the first few days. Even the folio of 20 limited-edition serigraph prints of the works (priced at Rs 60,000) has found quite a few takers.

Khoj International Artists Association, a part of the Triangle Arts Trust, New York, is focused on connecting South Asia to the world. Headquartered in Khirki village, near Hauz Khas, New Delhi, it conducts events throughout the year. The association has organised nine annual international exhibitions. Each of the expositions was coordinated by the host committees of Delhi, Mysore, Bangalore and Mumbai. It is now the turn of the newly-formed Calcutta chapter.

The Khoj Kolkata 2006 International Artists Workshop will be a 15-day exercise, bringing together 12 national and 12 international artists. The differences in ideas, tastes, attitudes and techniques might make for an exciting and invigorating art encounter this winter.